eldertongue

Old English · suffix

-an

Part of speech
suffix
Verb class
weak class 1 Anglian
IPA
/ɑn/
Syllables
ɑn (1 syllable)
Modern English
-enexceptionsflpreterite-presentinflectionsflēonformsablative

-an1 · suffix · masculine/feminine/neuter

Senses

  1. (accusative)(dative)(genitive)(instrumental)Forms the following inflections of weak adjectives:; Masculine and feminine accusative, genitive, dative, and instrumental singular

  2. (dative)(genitive)(instrumental)(singular)Forms the following inflections of weak adjectives:; Neuter genitive, dative, and instrumental singular

  3. (accusative)(nominative)(plural)Forms the following inflections of weak adjectives:; Masculine, feminine, and neuter nominative and accusative plural

-an2 · suffix

Senses

  1. used to form the infinitive of most strong, class 1 weak, and preterite-present verbs (exceptions are verbs like flēon (“to flee”))

    singan

    to sing

Conjugation

Conjugation of -an
PresentPast
Indicative
1st singular -e-u-de
2nd singular -est-st-es-dest-des
3rd singular -eþ-þ-de
Plural -aþ-don
Subjunctive
Singular -e-de
Plural -en-aþ-den-dun-don
Non-finite forms of -an
Form
Infinitive -an
Inflected infinitive -enne-an-anne
Imperative plural -aþ
Present participle -ende
Past participle -ed

-an3 · suffix

Senses

  1. Forms adverbs with ablative direction.

    ēastan

    from the east

-an4 · suffix

Senses

  1. Forms the accusative, genitive, and dative singular and nominative and accusative plural of n-stem nouns

    beran

    bear, bear's, bears

Declension · weak

Declension of -an
SingularPlural
Nominative -a-an
Accusative -an-an
Genitive -an-ena
Dative -an-um

-an5 · suffix · alternative form

Senses

  1. alternative form of -on (strong plural past indicative suffix)

-an6 · suffix · alternative form

Senses

  1. alternative form of -um

All forms (23)

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *-aną and Proto-Germanic *-janą.

From Proto-West Germanic *-anā, from Proto-Germanic *-anē.

Inherited from Proto-West Germanic *-an, from a conflation of several Proto-Germanic n-stem suffixes: *-anų (accusative singular), *-aniz (genitive singular, nominative/vocative plural) and *-anunz (accusative plural). Supplanted Proto-West Germanic *-ōn during the prehistory of Old English except for in relic forms such as ēastron and foldu.

Descendants

-en

Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · en.wiktionary.org/wiki/-an · CC BY-SA 4.0 licence · Attribution